John Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt

Who was John Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt?

John Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt was an English soldier and politician.

The eldest son of Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, he was educated at Christ Church College, Oxford after travelling in Holland in 1699.

He was elected, as a Whig Member of Parliament for Chippenham in 1701 despite a petition alleging, among other things, he was still a minor. He was a political ally of his father's and managed the attempt to impeach Lord Somers in the House of Commons in the same year. At the General Election of 1705 he vacated his seat to unsuccessfully contest Nottinghamshire but returned to Chippenham later that year in a by-election caused by the death of a newly returned Whig member, and sat until 1708.

He saw distinguished service during the War of the Spanish Succession. As a captain, he led the forlorn hope of the 1st Foot Guards at the Battle of Schellenberg in 1704, and was one of the few to survive that bloody assault. Shortly thereafter, he helped lead another furious assault at the Battle of Blenheim and lost his left arm. On 25 August 1704, he was made colonel of the Scots Fuzileers in place of Brigadier Archibald Rowe, killed in the attack at Blenheim.